Residents tell of chaotic robbery scene
Two tenants who live in the College Street home where a fatal assault took place Sunday evening described the incident as a chaotic robbery in which masked intruders pointed guns at them, pistol-whipped one of them and ransacked other efficiency rooms in the building.
Butler City police identified the victim of the fatal assault as Hakeem Darnell Moran, 31, of Pittsburgh.
Jared Weber and his girlfriend, Shannon Podobnic, both 42, said Tuesday they don't know how three masked, Black males got inside the building, but the incident has left them worried about their safety.
After they heard gunshots, they said they climbed into a bathtub for protection from stray bullets.
'Glad to be alive'“We're still shaken up, but we're glad to be alive,” said Weber, who bears a bruise on his forehead that he said he got when one of the robbers struck him with a pistol. “I'm worried about her (safety) and my safety.”He and Podobnic said they were in their first-floor room when the robbers, who were dressed in black clothing, burst into the building shortly after 7:30 p.m. demanding drugs and money from tenants, including them.Weber said he was walking up the steps to the bathroom on the second floor when the men entered. One of them followed him up the steps.“Where's all the drugs? Where's all the money?” is what Weber said the intruder was shouting when he approached him. He said he also heard the sound of the other robbers rummaging through the rooms of other tenants.Weber said he shouted back at the robber to let him go downstairs to Podobnic, but the robber pistol-whipped him.Podobnic said she was in the room she shares with Weber when one of the armed men entered and pointed a gun at her.She said that robber forced her up the steps and Weber helped her get up to him.That's when Weber said he heard one gunshot followed by a few more fired inside the building. He said two of the men were armed.
He said he called 911 after the men fled and stayed on the phone until police arrived. He and Podobnic said the robbers took money and medication from their room.“We're just glad its over,” Weber said.Police found an injured victim in the yard of a home a few doors away and across the street, he said.That victim was Moran, who was transported to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, where he was pronounced dead. Police said he had been stabbed multiple times and shot once.In addition to Moran, two other victims, who live in Butler, were assaulted and suffered mild injuries in the incident, police said.Police did not identify those victims.Moran was staying in Butler, but lived in Pittsburgh, police said.Police declined to comment on the possible motive behind the incident or whether shell casings were recovered. The incident remains under investigation.Butler police are asking anyone with information to contact the department.
